


Within The Silence

by Im_The_Doctor (Bofur1)



Category: Video Blogging RPF, Youtube RPF
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Anniversary, Anticipation, Anxiety, Coma, Fear, Grief/Mourning, Introspection, Kill Jacksepticeye, Limbo, Mid-Canon, Multiple Selves, One Year Later, Uncertainty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 03:52:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15549009
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bofur1/pseuds/Im_The_Doctor
Summary: Feeling as though they are trapped in a limbo, the Egos commemorate a grim year to the day.





	Within The Silence

Though none of them said a word about it, they all knew. It was impossible not to; the tension from the community was bleeding into them from the outside, like a deep breath that had yet to release.

Jameson looked back and forth between the elder Egos as they went about their business, unnerved by the lack of their chatter. They always emphasized that they needed to talk things through to cope. They needed to stick together and sort out their messes, no matter how hard times were, but today? They shared looks that meant everything to them and practically nothing to him.

He knew the date, of course; as soon as he was brought into this world, he had seen the aftermath of the destruction Anti had caused and he had lived through the latter half of it with them. Even so, he couldn’t help but watch them in a kind of uneasy awe as they passed by in a deafening silence that he couldn’t fill—and they wouldn’t.

Chase was drawn to visit Jack, as usual, but today it felt different. His creator was just as still and expressionless as always, but as he shifted to perch on the edge of his bed, Chase noted that he looked paler than he had yesterday. The circles under his eyes were darker and the skin around their corners was tighter, more strained. Swallowing with difficulty, Chase glanced down, tracing Jack’s cool, dry fingers tentatively with his own, silently urging them to twitch in response. Nothing happened.

Did Jack know what day it was? Deep in the depths of whatever dreams he was trapped in, did he realize how long it had been? A full year without seeing him smile or laugh or sit up. A full year, watching him breathe. “You need to wake up,” the vlogger pleaded in a whisper, for neither the first nor last time.

Marvin did his best to distract himself. He flipped through books without truly seeing the words and turned the television on and off, on and off, with the volume turned down entirely. None of it broke through his pensive, grim thoughts. Today was a milestone, in a way—a marker of how long they had survived since Anti’s last large-scale attack, but it felt more like the end. It was the end of a year they had lived in the dark and the beginning of a year that could prove to be darker.

How were any of them meant to react to this anniversary? Perhaps they should be preparing for another battle, but even with his magic he couldn’t sense the metallic, sickly air of Anti’s presence. Something bitter tightened in Marvin’s chest and he clenched his hands over his knees, exhaling deeply. Even now, with his absence, Anti was gloating. He was letting them ruminate today, think of just how much he had been able to take from them in mere minutes. Ten minutes and thirty seconds. He had shattered their world twice over in  _ten minutes and thirty seconds_.

None of them had seen Schneep today. He hadn’t left his lab and frankly, they weren’t sure they  _wanted_  to see him. They knew that he shouldn’t be alone today; it presented nothing but a prime opportunity for anguish, despair, hopelessness, and yet they couldn’t bring themselves to open the lab door. They feared what they might find inside.

It was nothing to fear, only to look on with helplessness and a familiar, tangible grief. Within the lab, tucked into its darkest corner, Dr. Schneeplestein was curled into the crook of Jackieboy’s arm, muffling harsh, heaving sobs by pressing his face into his shoulder. Jackie rode it out with him, stroking his opposite hand over the younger Ego’s neck and murmuring softly into his hair.

“I’ll protect you. I’ll protect you, Henrik, I promise…I’ll protect you.”

 _I won’t fail you this time_.

_I͘ wo̴n͡’t f̴ail̢._

**Author's Note:**

> It's been a year to the day since Kill Jacksepticeye. Happy anniversary.


End file.
